A couple of weeks ago, we saw how much collectors would pay for a pair of exquisite hot rods when RM Auctions sold two out of the Dingman Ford collection for more than $350,000. In August, RM will try its hand at kustoms and attempt to top that mark with its feature car.
Gary “Chopit” Fioto’s “Beatnik,” a 1955 bubbletop Ford, will headline RM’s first Kustoms Night as part of its 2006 Monterey Sports and Classic Car Auction, August 18, in Monterey, California. The Kustoms Night will showcase “a dozen important hot rods and kustoms from the foremost designers and fabricators in the nation,” according to an RM press release.
Fioto’s Beatnik came to prominence back in February of this year when it won the $20,000 grand prize at Darryl Starbird’s National Rod and Custom Car Show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Modifications to the Ford include a clear canopy, Cadillac rear sheetmetal, a mix of Cadillac and Lincoln front sheetmetal and a Chevrolet small-block V-8 with six carburetors poking through the hood. RM’s pre-auction estimate pegs the Beatnik at between $350,000 and $450,000.
The auction will also feature several other well-known kustoms, including Ken “Posies” Fenical’s Extremeliner, which debuted late last year, with an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000; Zane Cullen’s Full Speed Ahead, with an estimate of $150,000 to $200,000; and Rick Dore’s Golden Era, with an estimate of $125,000 to $175,000.
For more information, visit www.rmauctions.com

(This post originally appeared in the June 29, 2006, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)